In our session on sustainability we focus on the work at DePaul that bridges interdisciplinary boundaries for a healthy future of our planet, and how that work intersects with sustainability efforts in the broader communities of Chicago, and beyond. Our panelists will provide ideas for research on innovation that can bring peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future.
Keynote Speaker:
Jen Walling,
Executive Director
Illinois Environmental Council
Jen Walling has served as the Executive Director for the Illinois Environmental Council since January of 2011, where she oversees the strategic direction and management of the organization and lobbies decision makers on environmental issues. Jen has drafted, negotiated, lobbied and passed hundreds of bills in Springfield while working to build the power, expertise and relationships of the entire environmental community. Jen holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also received a juris doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law and is an attorney licensed to practice law in Illinois.
Barbara Willard,
Associate Professor
College of Communication
Barbara Willard is an Associate Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University and affiliate faculty in the Department of Environmental Science and Studies. Her research focuses on the way environmental communication shapes beliefs and behaviors that impact our natural world. She examines best practices for promoting pro-environmental behavior such as natural landscaping and eating a plant-based diet. She is a founding board member of the International Environmental Communication Association and a founding member of the editorial board of the journal Environmental Communication (Taylor & Francis). She has published in a variety of outlets including Environmental Communication, Journal of Popular Culture, Women’s Studies in Communication, and Rhetoric Society Quarterly.
Christie Klimas,
Associate Professor and Chair
College of Science and Health
Christie’s research brings together ecology and economics, in urban and tropical settings, to address questions of sustainable resource use. Due to the economic drivers underlying resource use, economic knowledge is an essential component of sustainability. Indeed, economic studies have moved to the forefront of sustainable ecosystem management and recent research has focused on quantifying the monetary benefit of ecosystem services like pollination, water filtration, and carbon storage. From valuing tropical forests for their economic potential to quantifying the benefits of urban green space, a commonality in her research is working toward ecologically sustainable resource management that recognizes the role of citizen stakeholders.
She is also an advocate of undergraduate research and has mentored and published with DePaul undergraduate students. She is currently working on partnered conservation in Mexico and Brazil and raising awareness of the impacts of Amazonian gold mining through classes (including study abroad courses) and research.
Session Chair and Moderator:
Maija Renko,
Professor & Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship
Driehaus College of Business
Maija Renko teaches entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship classes at DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business. Her research and teaching interests are focused on the early stages of the entrepreneurial process, social entrepreneurship, and technology entrepreneurship. Her research has been published in leading management and entrepreneurship journals, and she has received a number of grants to support her research activities. Dr. Renko’s teaching and research contribute to a better understanding of how entrepreneurs build successful businesses that not only generate financial rewards for those involved, but also contribute to positive social change, a sense of achievement for those– often disenfranchised members of the society– involved, and the advancement of society through the introduction of innovations.